Man sentenced to five years in prison for molesting minor

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a May 2019 Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of molesting a teenage girl in Irbid in December 2018.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molesting the 14-year-old girl in a secluded street in Irbid city and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the teenager and the defendant knew each other via messenger application.

“The two started chatting and at a later stage decided to meet,” according to the court transcripts.

The defendant met the minor in one of Irbid’ streets after she finished school and the two went to a side road "where he molested her", the court documents stated.

“The victim returned home and informed her family about the incident three days later,” court papers added. 

The minor’s family contacted the Family Protection Department and the defendant was arrested, court papers added 

The defendant appealed the verdict through his lawyer asking to be declared innocent since “the victim’s testimonies were contradictory”.

The defendant also claimed that his confessions were “extracted under duress”.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate, and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to the incident and failed to provide any evidence to prove he was innocent,” the higher court ruled.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Saeed Mugheid, Bassem Mubeidin, Yassin Abdullat and Majid Azab.